Quoth: The Raven: Nevermore
by Storm Rain
Summary: Quoth: The Raven: Nevermore. The Harry Potter stories...told from the eyes of Snape's hidden daughter. Through year one to seven...from the beginning to the end. The Boy Who Lived wasn't the only one who had a prophecy.
1. Chapter 1

**Quoth: The Raven: Nevermore**

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Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,  
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore -  
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,  
As of some one gently rapping - rapping at my chamber door.  
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door -  
Only this and nothing more."

Ah, distinctly I remember, it was in the bleak December,  
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.  
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow  
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -  
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore -  
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain  
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;  
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating  
"'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -  
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -  
This it is and nothing more."

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,  
"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly yours forgiveness I implore;  
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,  
And so faintly you came tapping - tapping at my chamber door,  
That I scarce was sure I heard you" - here I opened wide the door: -  
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before; But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,  
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore!" -  
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore! -  
Merely this and nothing more.

Then into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,  
Soon again I heard a tapping, something louder than before.  
"Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice;  
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore -  
Let my heart be still a moment, and this mystery explore; -  
'Tis the wind and nothing more."

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,  
In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore.  
Not the least obeisance made he; not an instant stopped or stayed he;  
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -  
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -  
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,  
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,  
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven, Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore - Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,  
Though its answer little meaning - little relevancy bore;  
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being  
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above this chamber door -  
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,  
With such name as "Nevermore."

But the Raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust, spoke only  
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.  
Nothing further then he uttered; not a feather then he fluttered -  
Till I scarcely more than muttered, "Other friends have flown before -  
On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before,"  
Then the bird said, "Nevermore."

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,  
"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store,  
Caught from some unhappy master, whom unmerciful Disaster  
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore -  
Till the dirges of his Hope the melacholy burden bore  
Of 'Never-nevermore.'"

But the Raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,  
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;  
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking  
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore -  
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore  
Meant in croaking "Nevermore."

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing  
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;  
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining  
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,  
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,  
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.  
"Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he hath sent thee Respite - respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore! Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!"Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! -  
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,  
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted -  
On this Home by Horror haunted - tell me truly I implore -  
Is there - is there balm in Gilead? tell me - tell me, I implore!"  
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil - prophet still, if bird or devil!  
By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore -  
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,  
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore.  
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."  
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!" I shrieked, upstarting - "Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore! Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken! Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!  
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!" Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting - still is sitting  
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;  
And his eyes have all the seeming of a Demon that is dreaming,  
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;  
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor  
Shall be lifted – nevermore! 

**-Edgar Allen Poe**

Quoth: The Raven: Nevermore… Wrote Edgar Allen Poe. The wizard was clever, sly to say the least. He knew what he was doing.

Oh, you didn't know? Yes, Mr. Poe was a wizard, a brilliant one, if not insane and mad. Still, brilliance was there. Intelligence.

None would suspect the prophecy and warning hidden within that poem of his.

None but I.

Who am I?

I am the essence of both loyalty and betrayal.

The crescent moon is my symbol, brightening the dull, dark skies as it flashes across the sky and is seen in lightning and thunder. When a raven calls, you can be sure that I am there, too.

When there is a howl of pain in the night, when someone cries out for help, I've been there. Maybe I still am.

You never know.

Most call me Darkness, Death, Shadow…Deception.

I prefer to go by my birthname, though I must admit that these other titles do flatter me.

My name is Raven Tyto Victoria Rose Destiny Snape.

My father is the now former Potions Master of Hogwarts, former Head of the House of Slytherin, and servant of Voldemort.

Notice how I didn't add a former to the last one?

Why is reading this important? Why not another one, a "more interesting" one?

This story could contain the fate of the world.

All say that this story I am about to tell you is merely about Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. Fools.

We all know the story. The mother of Harry died to protect him, and gave him a shield against Voldemort: a shield of love. Little Harry warded off Voldemort, and became a hero.

Love was worth something back then.

No, little Potter was not the only one who could save all. Prophecies can be linked…and only the most imporant of them all involve the fate of our world.

Both Potter and I are part of them.

This is mine:

**The Raven that flies in the cold stormy night**

**Its wings made of the darkest of shadows.**

**Its destiny clouded, its fate intertwined**

**With the one that could save the worlds**

**The lightning and moon, combined together**

**Must alone save us all.**

**The bolt shines on the young man's head;**

**The crescent burns on her shoulder**

**They share the pain, the burden is theirs;**

**The yin and yang in both of them**

**But the girl; her fate stands out from his**

**In the light of the crescent moon.**

**The crescent moon shines in the sky**

**And its power must not be wasted**

**And in the moonlight, the raven turns**

**Beak opening, sounds prepare to emerge**

**It caws; yet no animal noise it speaks.**

**Its words are those of human's.**

**'The darkness seeps through your empty heart...**

**Its true black eternity splits you apart...**

**For when I do, all shall not see...**

**What all shall turn out to be.'**

**Quoth: The Raven: Nevermore.**


	2. Chapter 2

Thunder, lightning, rain and storm. The thunder roared adjective, the lightning flashed and lit all in sight; it struck down and burned trees. The rain battered the ground in a furious drumbeat, never relenting, never weakening.

Any being with common sense was hiding away somewhere, far from the ferocity of the storm.

But Severus Snape himself was busy with a much more important matter than his own safety.

"AAAGGH!"

"Push, Destiny, push!"

His wife and child.

They were in a small, abandoned cottage deep in the forest in the heart of England. Why they were there was not important now. They were there, and right now Destiny was about to deliver his child, the child that they had been waiting so long for.

"It…hurts…" Destiny panted, and clenched her husband's hand tighter. Severus squeezed back reassuringly.

"Push once more, and it will all be over," he reassured her. And she did.

"GAAAHH!"

And his child was born.

He took her in his arms after magically cutting the umbilical cord, and healed the small wound with another flick of his wand.

And he took a good look at his daughter.

Her skin, cinammon brown as her mother's, black beetle eyes of her father's, and black hair the mother and father both shared.

The child was mysteriously quiet for a newborn; no wails or cries issued from her mouth; but she smiled and gurgled once in her father's arms.

On the infant's left shoulder, was a small scar…in the shape of a crescent moon. It faced downards, the open side facing down. A small dot was in the open face.

The child herself paid this abnormality no mind; she was busy reaching for her father.

His wife groaned softly, weak with exhertion, and gazed up sadly at her husband. Severus's face fell as he realized what she was about to say.

She had seen it coming in her dreams, and knew what would happen immediately after the baby was born. They had gone over it many times.

"Severus, it is time. You know what to do. I will soon die. Burn the house behind you, and don't look back. Not once, Severus."

"Destiny, there must be another way…" Destiny smiled sadly and shook her head. "You know there isn't, Severus. I love you." She lay back as her breathing began to slow. "Don't forget me, but at the same time, live, Severus…live…"

And she drifted away. Severus fell to his knees beside her, clutching her now cold hand.

"Please! Please come back! Please…" he sobbed.

But to no avail. Tears streamed down his face, and the newborn now saw fit to also begin crying.

His wife, and the girl's mother, Destiny Victoria Snape, was gone.

The storm suddenly became stronger, and the little cottage rocked as it was buffeted with one blast of wind after another.

The crescent moon glowed brighter, and turned a crimson red. Severus noted this, and stood.

It was time to go.

Severus lovingly caressed his wife's cheek one last time. "Good-bye, Destiny," he whispered softly, before gathering the child up in his arms and rushing out of the cottage.

The rain battered him from all sides, and the baby girl in his arms wailed and curled up closer to her father's chest. Severus covered her with his cloak and began to run at a faster pace. If he Apparated here, as Destiny had warned him, someone would detect it. He was also not to use any magic until the clearing in the middle of the forest. Inside the cabin, yes, but it was warded. He had to get to the clearing.

The storm grew fiercer more, and struck the trees the hardest. With a loud CRACK! a tree was hit by lightning and fell in the middle of the path, burning fiercely even in the heavy rain. The flames blazed out at him, like hell's demons reaching for him and his child. He swerved around it.

And he turned back, to glance behind at the happiness he once had, one last time, and pulled out his wand. And barely heard above the storm, came the incantation, "INCENDIO!" And the cottage burst into flames, disintegrating before his eyes.

Then he turned, and ran, not looking back once. The clearing was just up ahead, he could reach it—and he did.

Once in the middle of the clearing, he clutched the baby girl tighter to his chest, and with a loud CRACK! he Apparated to the agreed location: Hogwarts.

At the gates, he opened them and hurried up to the castle, where he rapped on the doors. He was met by a bewildered looking Minerva McGonagall. "Severus! What are you doing—oh…"

She had spotted the child in his arms, and stepped aside to let him in. "Albus is in his office." He nodded, and strode swiftly to the office.

Once he spoke the password, he entered the office. Albus Dumbledore stood and rushed down to meet him.

"Is this your child?" he murmured quietly. Severus had discussed this with Albus, as well; he knew about Destiny.

"Yes. She is."

The rain and the storm raged on outside, but they were now safe from its full wrath. Severus

"We're safe…for now." He glanced down at her. "Your mother's sacrifice will not be in vain." The little girl made a small noise, and reached towards the window.

A raven sat there, perched on the windowledge, staring at the girl. It gave one caw, and as lightning flashed at the same time, time itself seemed to slow, leaving only the girl and the raven.

And then, in another flash of lightning, the raven was gone. Severus nodded.

"Raven…Your name." Raven yawned and snuggled into her blankets. Severus sighed and stroked the girl's hair as she fell into a deep slumber. "And it begins."


End file.
